Tkemali
Tkemali is one of Georgia's best-known sauces and the classic partner for grilled skewers. It is made from sour cherry plums, cooked, pressed through a sieve and seasoned with garlic, dill, coriander, mint, blue fenugreek and chilli. It is sour, herby and slightly hot — with fatty meat it works like ketchup, only far more interesting. Cherry plums (Prunus cerasifera) grow along roads and in parks and ripen in July and August; they are often mistaken for mirabelles, but they are far sharper, and that sharpness is the whole point. Green, unripe cherry plums give a green, very sour sauce; ripe yellow ones a milder one.
Your own work in that: 25 min.
- Cooking the plums 25 min
- Sieving 15 min
- Reducing 25 min
- Seasoning 10 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneCook the plums
Wash the cherry plums, put them in a pot with the water, cover and cook over medium heat for 15–20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the skins burst and the flesh is completely soft.
Ingredients: 1000 g sour cherry plums · 150 ml water · 4 cloves garlic · 1 bunch dill · 1 bunch coriander · 1 tsp dried mint (instead of Georgian ombalo mint) · 1 tsp ground coriander · 1 tsp blue fenugreek (utskho suneli), or half a teaspoon of ordinary fenugreek · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp salt · 1 tbsp sugar, to taste
The skins burst — the flesh comes off the stones.Press through a sieve
Press the hot plums through a fine sieve or food mill with a spoon. Discard the stones and skins.
Ingredients: 1000 g sour cherry plums · 150 ml water · 4 cloves garlic · 1 bunch dill · 1 bunch coriander · 1 tsp dried mint (instead of Georgian ombalo mint) · 1 tsp ground coriander · 1 tsp blue fenugreek (utskho suneli), or half a teaspoon of ordinary fenugreek · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp salt · 1 tbsp sugar, to taste
Stones and skins stay in the sieve.Chop the herbs
Finely chop the dill and coriander, and crush the garlic in a press or with a little salt.
Ingredients: 1000 g sour cherry plums · 150 ml water · 4 cloves garlic · 1 bunch dill · 1 bunch coriander · 1 tsp dried mint (instead of Georgian ombalo mint) · 1 tsp ground coriander · 1 tsp blue fenugreek (utskho suneli), or half a teaspoon of ordinary fenugreek · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp salt · 1 tbsp sugar, to taste
Reduce the sauce
Put the purée in a clean pot and cook uncovered over low heat for 15–20 minutes, stirring often, until it thickens to a thin ketchup.
Ingredients: 1000 g sour cherry plums · 150 ml water · 4 cloves garlic · 1 bunch dill · 1 bunch coriander · 1 tsp dried mint (instead of Georgian ombalo mint) · 1 tsp ground coriander · 1 tsp blue fenugreek (utskho suneli), or half a teaspoon of ordinary fenugreek · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp salt · 1 tbsp sugar, to taste
Add the spices
Add the ground coriander, fenugreek, mint, chilli and salt.
Ingredients: 1000 g sour cherry plums · 150 ml water · 4 cloves garlic · 1 bunch dill · 1 bunch coriander · 1 tsp dried mint (instead of Georgian ombalo mint) · 1 tsp ground coriander · 1 tsp blue fenugreek (utskho suneli), or half a teaspoon of ordinary fenugreek · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp salt · 1 tbsp sugar, to taste
Add herbs and garlic
Add the dill, coriander and garlic and cook 5 minutes more, stirring.
Ingredients: 1000 g sour cherry plums · 150 ml water · 4 cloves garlic · 1 bunch dill · 1 bunch coriander · 1 tsp dried mint (instead of Georgian ombalo mint) · 1 tsp ground coriander · 1 tsp blue fenugreek (utskho suneli), or half a teaspoon of ordinary fenugreek · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp salt · 1 tbsp sugar, to taste
Herbs at the end — they keep their aroma.Season
Taste and add sugar — only enough to soften the sourness, tkemali should stay clearly sour. Add salt or chilli if needed.
Ingredients: 1000 g sour cherry plums · 150 ml water · 4 cloves garlic · 1 bunch dill · 1 bunch coriander · 1 tsp dried mint (instead of Georgian ombalo mint) · 1 tsp ground coriander · 1 tsp blue fenugreek (utskho suneli), or half a teaspoon of ordinary fenugreek · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp salt · 1 tbsp sugar, to taste
Bottle it
Pour the hot sauce into clean jars or bottles, cool and refrigerate. It thickens a little more as it cools. A kilo of cherry plums gives about 700 ml of sauce.
Ingredients: 1000 g sour cherry plums · 150 ml water · 4 cloves garlic · 1 bunch dill · 1 bunch coriander · 1 tsp dried mint (instead of Georgian ombalo mint) · 1 tsp ground coriander · 1 tsp blue fenugreek (utskho suneli), or half a teaspoon of ordinary fenugreek · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp salt · 1 tbsp sugar, to taste
Before you start
Substitutes
Out of cherry plum season use unripe, firm plums of any variety and add 2–3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Mirabelles and sweet dessert plums are too sweet — they turn the sauce into something closer to jam. Blue fenugreek is sold in spice and Georgian shops; ordinary fenugreek is more bitter, so use half a teaspoon of it.
What to serve it with
Tkemali goes with skewers (mtsvadi), roast chicken, fried potatoes and fish. In Georgia it is also added to chakapuli stew.
Storage
The sauce keeps up to 3 weeks in the fridge in a closed jar. For longer, freeze it in small containers. Do not keep it in the pantry: fresh garlic and herbs lower the acidity, and home water-bath canning is not reliable here.